Honoring your parents is a matter of life and death... at least it was for Mulan. Is it the same case for us today? Why does the fifth commandment really matter?Oleh Koinonia Fellowship

What does it mean to be holy? God calls us to be holy because he is holy. That command seems impossible.... because it is... and it isn't. You may not realize it, but, in a way, you declare things holy all the time.Oleh Koinonia Fellowship

Check your privilege. That's what someone said to Esther and her heart was changed. God gives us privilege and it is always attached to God-given purpose. In order for us to use our privilege for God, we have to be willing to give it all up and never benefit from it. Only then can our privilege be used for God's glory. But how do we get the power t…

It doesn't matter how much we know about God's forgiveness, unless we have had a personal experience with it. The story of Jonah and the Ninevites reveals to us what it means to encounter God's forgiveness personally versus encountering God's forgiveness from a distance. Jonah could "wow" the people with his theological insight to God's forgiveness…

True repentance is something that is detestable to most people today. Yet, Jesus commands that if we are to have eternal life through the Gospel, then true repentance must be the first step on that path. The story of how David responds to his "big sin" shows us what it really means to repent. “I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mothe…

When you read the Bible, it seems like God can't get enough of the "underdog" storyline. Over and over again, the underdog plot resurfaces. And it becomes most famous in the story of David and Goliath. But all these underdog stories point to something else. They point to the ultimate underdog story that the entire Bible is about.…

King Saul was a royal failure. With his very first act as king, he proved to be someone who didn't truly honor God. And the consequences were drastic. If he had only waited a few hours longer, things might have been much different. Special Guest: Travis HabererOleh Koinonia Fellowship

The story of the Battle of Jericho is not just something that happened thousands of years ago. It is also the guaranteed future for all Christians. The victory that God wins for the Israelites at Jericho is just a shadow of the far greater victory that God will win at the end of the age for all who believe in Him. And yes, there will be a trumpet s…

12 spies were sent into the promised land. They all faced the same temptations, but only 2 acted in a way that pleased God. They all faced the same cost, but only 2 esteemed God as more valuable. One thing is for certain: our faith will be tested. Only if we have lived like Joshua beforehand will we have victory like Joshua.…

God's plan from the beginning has been that He will make His final home with humanity. But, of course, mankind has messed things up so that we are unfit for God's presence. In order for God to dwell with us, things have to change. It's a bit like Little Italy...Oleh Koinonia Fellowship

We live in a society of human beings. Ever wondered what it would be like to live in God's society? Here's a hint... it's a whole lot different than the society we live in. And because of that, it's governed by a different set of laws. When God gave the law to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, He was (in a sense) telling them the laws that must be obe…

When the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt, they were led into their destiny. The way that the Israelites lived out their calling teaches us how we ought to live out our specific calling as Christians.Oleh Koinonia Fellowship

God gave Moses three miracles to perform for the people of Israel: a staff turning into a snake and back into a staff, his hand becoming diseased and then whole again, and the Nile water turning into blood. These are not just random miracles, but are communicating a powerful message of salvation and a warning for disregarding that message.…

Ever wonder if fire-bending is possible? What about fire-bending the wrath of God?Oleh Koinonia Fellowship

It's the story of the two soundest sleepers in the whole Bible - Jonah and Jesus. A lot that happens in Jonah's life is a symbol for what would happen in the life of Christ. But there is one major difference. And that difference is displayed on a boat and in a storm in which both Jonah and Jesus were able to sleep straight through. Had it not been …

Everyone is born a slave to sin. Nobody is born a Christian. Anyone who is now a Christian has been radically transformed into one by God. Every Christian has a "before and after" story. What's your "before and after" story?Oleh Koinonia Fellowship

Joseph had one crazy life. There are few stories in all of history that can compete with the drama of Joseph's life. But his story is not just entertaining. It is also incredibly insightful as to the reality of God in the face of suffering. God does not sit by on the sideline while evil people ruin our lives, and then after decide to step in and pi…

All our lives we do our best to earn a blessing for ourselves. And the “American dream” tells us that we need to work our way to the top and prove to everyone that we’ve earned our right to be there. But that is foolishness. No matter how hard we try, what we are really looking for in life cannot be acquired through earning or manipulation. Jacob l…

John 3:16 is a verse that almost every Christian could quote by heart. But there is another verse in the Old Testament that says almost the same thing, but from a different perspective. The question that both of these verses addresses is the issue of proving love. The only way to truly prove your love to someone, is through your sacrifice for them.…

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is told in a very unique way. We hear about the story from two different perspectives. But then, at the end, there is one sentence extra that is kind of like a post-credits scene. It leaves us anticipating what is to come later on in the Bible's story, and it foreshadows something even more exciting...…

The way God chose to bless the world through Abram is a picture of how God blesses the world today through Christ. God said that all who related rightly to Abram, He would bless. And now God says the same thing, except dealing with a greater person - Jesus Christ - and dealing with a greater blessing - eternal life. This is the beginning of the sto…

Besides having a great name, Utnapishtim was the one man who survived the great flood according to the Babylonian flood myth. But what does that have to do with the Bible's account of Noah and the flood? If we compare the differences between the Bible's flood story and the other cultures' flood stories, then we will learn a lot about God and how he…

The story of Cain and Abel is incredibly similar to the story of Adam and Eve sinning in the Garden. But one of the major differences is that, instead of Satan speaking with mankind before the sin takes place, God has a conversation with mankind before the sin takes place. What God says to Cain teaches us about how God deals with us before we sin a…

How does God respond to sin? When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God's response tells us everything we need to know about how God responds to sin in our lives personally and also how He ultimately deals with sin for good. God responds by 1) giving us grace and space to recognize our wrong and repent, 2) He allows consequences to sin in order to teach …

What exactly is sin? Nowadays it seems that everyone has their own definition. The only way we can really know what sin is, is if we study sin's origin story... and that's exactly what we find in Genesis chapter 3. Sin is not determined by whether something is helpful, beneficial, or "for the greater good". But sin is something that is tied to a re…

God created us in the Garden of Eden with a purpose - to subdue the Earth. Basically, that means he created the resources and told us to make a civilization and build a world for humans to thrive in. That is our original purpose as humans, and it is a purpose that will never change. Do you know what that means?? We'll be doing all of it in eternity…

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is just one of many terms that describe an experience that Christians have all throughout the book of Acts. It is an experience that Jesus defines as a "clothing with power" in order to fulfill the commission to be His "witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the Earth." It is an experien…

One of the main reasons why we don't desire to edify other people to become more like Christ is because the way we relate to people is wrong. We feel a strong and immediate connection with people because we share the same interests or maybe because we are related by blood, but we don't feel that same strong and immediate connection with people beca…

The spiritual gifts can be tricky. Sometimes they can just as easily lead us away from God as they can lead us towards God. The difference is the reason why we are pursuing them. For our own spiritual power? To seem like we are closer to God than other people? Maybe because they just seem cool? Or to love and encourage other people to know God?…

Super powers? No, not really. The spiritual gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 are given to us so that we can present the fact that God is real to the world. We are bringing a "foreign" message to the world - the Gospel is a message from Heaven and about God, both of which we cannot see or touch. So, the Holy Spirit works through us supernaturally…

Have you ever thought of serving as a Spiritual gift? Well, it is! Paul's first list of spiritual gifts found in Romans 12 contains things that we would not immediately think of as being "spiritual". But, as Christians, it is our reasonable worship to offer up these natural abilities to God in order that He might use them to accomplish His spiritua…

The gifts that the Holy Spirit gives each of us are not for us, but they are for others. The Holy Spirit changes us and transforms us for our own sake, but He empowers us with gifts for the sake of others. And each of us has a totally unique "gifting" from God - we each have a different function. When we are all operating in our God-given gifting, …

All throughout the Bible we are called to examine ourselves. Just like the wicked Queen in Snow White, we all have something that we look into every morning to measure ourselves, something to judge us. The Word of God is the only “mirror” that will always tell us the truth and examine us honestly.Oleh Koinonia Fellowship

How is it that some people who are not Christians seem to exhibit many of the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit - love, peace, gentleness, etc? How do we know if our characteristics are really from the Holy Spirit or not? The world defines love, peace, self-control, etc in their own way, while the Holy Spirit has His own definition. If we …

When we are born again from above, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and gives us new desires and passions. These desires are contrary to our natural flesh, but naturally produce Christ-likeness in us. The true Christian is not someone who strives to do things that look "Christian", but they will inevitably become like Christ.…

Last week we talked relationships with our guy Dan, this week we talked about them with our girl Jasmine to get the other side of things.

This week we sat down with our boy Dan to talk about why we think relationships fail, talking stages, cheating, and so much more.

You ever wonder what the differences are between the US and UK? Like is the food as bad as some say it is? How does the college system work? This week we sat down to ask all the questions we had about the UK with someone who grew up there.

Do the words Konoha, Saiyan, or Seireitei mean anything to you? This week we're talking anime and giving you some recommendations if you don't watch or are looking to get started!

Is money real? Should you get the Covid vaccine? Is toilet paper a matter of life and death? We're looking at all of these things and more in these week's episode of The Bus Ride as we compare the Covid pandemic from 2020 to the pandemic of 2021.

In the first episode of The Bus Ride podcast were discussing what's the hype around the new NCAA game that was announced? Troche and 2Toms share their thoughts.